ITEM FILE PHOTO
Classical’s Meredith MacDonald won her singles match in straight sets against Somerville Friday afternoon.
By MATT FRASER and NATALIE DURAZO
The Lynn Classical girls tennis team wasted little time in locking up a spot in the postseason, defeating visiting Somerville, 5-0, for its ninth win before the season’s opening month is out.
It will be coach Cathy Ellis and the Rams’ (9-1) third consecutive trip to the state tournament and fifth in the last six years.
“It’s a goal at the start of every season and a very satisfying moment for our six starting seniors, knowing that they’ll be back in the tournament one last time,” said Ellis.
Among the group are Anna Athanasopoulos and Meredith MacDonald, who scored two of the host’s four 6-0, 6-0 victories from the first and second singles spots, respectively.
Junior No. 3 Lizzie Troisi and the second doubles team of Ashley Noel/Zoe Raymond prevailed by the same score while the first team of Shea Dunnigan/Briana Silva won, 6-1, 6-0.
Classical will now look to strengthen its tournament resume, starting Monday at Gloucester.
Archbishop Williams 4, St. Mary’s 1
Christina Hallisey/Caitlin Foley scored the host Spartans’ (3-5) lone point with a 10-2 victory at second doubles, while Stephanie Letch showed continued progression, despite a 10-4 defeat at third singles.
Lynnfield 4, Masconomet 1
A sweep in doubles, featuring wins from the teams of Olivia Skelley/Camie Foley (6-4, 6-1) and Hayley Timmons/Katie Nugent (6-0, 6-2), helped lead the Pioneers past the Chieftains. No. 1 Sarah Mezini (6-1, 6-0) and No. 2 Katie Nevils (3-6, 6-0, 6-2) added singles wins for Lynnfield who improved to 6-1.
BASEBALL
St. Mary’s 8, Lowell Catholic 0
Sophomore Louis Vidal earned his first varsity win (five innings, one hit, six strikeouts) and helped out his own cause at the plate, with a 2-for-3 showing with two RBI. Tommy Cash pitched the final three innings, yielding three hits to go along with a strikeout.
Donnie Weisse broke the game wide open with a two-run single in the second, making it 4-0. The visiting Spartans (7-2, 4-1 CCL) received offensive contributions from the likes of Nick Peveri (2-for-3, 2 RBI), Dan Hennessey (2-for-3, 2 runs) and Tyler Donovan (2-for-2).
Salem 8, Revere 0
Sam Ramirez (eight strikeouts) pitched a perfect game, leading the Witches (3-6) past the Patriots.
Matt Ryan and Aneudy Espinal each went 2-for-3 with two RBI in the win.
Fenwick 7, Everett 0
The Crusaders (6-3) rolled past the Tide behind a complete-game shutout by David Furtado, who had five strikeouts while allowing two hits.
“It’s when (Furtado) is throwing strikes and keeping the ball low that allows our team to play good defense, and our offense feeds off that,” said coach Kevin Canty.
Cory Bright went 3-for-4 and scored two runs in the win.
Gloucester 10, Peabody 3
The Fishermen pounced on the Tanners early to bring their record to 5-4.
John Philpott continued his winning ways on the mound with his third overall win, helped along by Marc Phinney, who got Gloucester out of a jam with a key strikeout and the eventual save.
The Fishermen’s bats were hot as they scored five runs in the third to extend their lead to 7-2 at the time. Brennen Crossman (3-for-4, 4 RBI) provided the highlight of the game with a three-run shot to center field. Brady Parisi had a solid offensive game at the plate with two hits and three RBI.
Beverly 10, Winthrop 7 (8 innings)
Matt Collins’ single in extra innings plated Matt Manzo with the game-winning run after the former walked and stole second base. Spencer Brown pitched three innings of relief to pick up the win for the Panthers, who improved to 6-3.
BOYS TENNIS
St. John’s Prep 5, Marblehead 0
In a clean sweep of the Magicians, the visiting Eagles (5-0) received singles victories from No. 1 Scott Riester (6-4, 6-3 over Justin Faia), No. 2 Evan Maguire (6-3, 6-1 over Felix Litvak) and No. 3 Mikey Prokopis (6-0, 6-0 over Billy Ackerman).
In doubles, Nick Salacci/David Cunningham defeated Dan Litvak/Dave Grenader (6-3, 6-3) while Jacob Salacci/Mihung Xu topped Garrett Tully/Jack Quigley (6-2, 6-2).
GIRLS LACROSSE
Peabody 14, Salem 3
The Tanners improved to 6-2 with a rout of the visiting Witches, highlighted by the performances of Amanda Bradley (4 goals) and Chloe Gizzi (2 goals, 2 assists).
The trio of Kristen Bradley, Emma Rigol and Lauren Wolff (assist) scored two goals each for Peabody. Gianna Denisco had eight saves in the win.
Marblehead 14, Revere 2
Caroline Driscoll (4 goals) led the way in the Marblehead (9-1) offensive outburst, which included four-point efforts from Lucie Poulin and Annie Ronan. Grace Arthur, Lydia Bongiorno, Hadley Carlton, Corinne Mayle and Annie Migliore added solo tallies, along with Amanda Gregory (2 assists).
Masconomet 7, Lynnfield 2
The Pioneers (5-2) turned in a strong defensive effort, outshooting the high powered Chieftains, who relied heavily on goaltender Marissa Karras (10 saves). Lynnfield tallied once in each half, the former from senior Meryl Braconnier and the latter from junior Lilli Patterson.
BOYS TRACK
Tech 106, Northeast 29
Two wins apiece from Ali Bdaiwi and Jahvon Van highlighted the host Tigers’ third win in as many meets to open the season. Bdawai was victorious with the javelin and the discus while Van prevailed in the high jump and triple jump.
Edgar Ortega added a pair of wins in the one-mile and two-mile, while Steffan Gravely ran a 10.9 to qualify for the state tournament in the 100-meter dash. Elvin Gonzalez claimed a win in the 400-hurdles (1:12.3) and a second place finish in the 100-hurdles (19.9).
Other individual winners for Tech included Michael Anaya (long jump, 19-1), Patrick Handley (400m, 58.3), Dalvin Howard (800m, 2:18.8) and Brandon Lewis with the shot put.
GIRLS TRACK
Northeast 64, Tech 57
Makalay Handley was a triple winner in the 100-meter dash (14.03), discus (63-3) and shot put (29-5) for Tech (0-3). Annmarie Texiera got a win in the javelin (61-11).